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UPAYA CENTER

WINTER DOGEN READER ON LED BY ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX

EIHEI DOGEN

“POINT OF ”

“A GENERAL RECOMMENDED WAY OF SITTING”

“BENDOWA”

“KING OF ” From: Kazuaki Tanahashi The Point of Zazen

Yaoshan, Great Master Hongdao, was sitting. A monk asked him, “In steadfast sitting, what do you think?” Yaoshan said, “Think not thinking.” “How do you think not thinking?” Yaoshan replied, “Beyond thinking.”

Realizing these words of Yaoshan, you should investigate and receive the authentic transmission of steadfast sitting. This is the thorough study of steadfast sitting transmitted in the buddha way. Yaoshan is not the only one who spoke of thinking in steadfast sitting. His words, however, were extraordinary. Think not thinking is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of thinking and the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of not thinking. The monk said, How do you think not thinking? However ancient not thinking is, still we are asked how to think it. Is there not thinking in steadfast sitting? How can going beyond steadfast sitting not be understood? One who is not shallow and foolish can ask and think about steadfast sitting. Yaoshan said, Beyond thinking. The activity of beyond thinking is crystal clear. In order to think not thinking, beyond thinking is always used. In beyond thinking, there is somebody that sustains you. Even if it is you who are sitting steadfast, you are not only thinking but are upholding steadfast sitting. When sitting steadfast, how can steadfast sitting think steadfast sitting? Thus, sitting steadfast is not buddha thought, thought, enlightenment thought, or realization thought. This teaching was directly transmitted person to person from Shakyamuni Buddha to Yaoshan through thirty-six generations of ancestors. That means if you go beyond thirty-six generations from Yaoshan, you go back to Shakyamuni Buddha. What was authentically transmitted thus was think not thinking.

However, careless students in recent times say, “The endeavor of zazen is completed when your heart is quiescent, as zazen is a place of calmness.” Such a view does not even reach that of students of the Lesser Vehicles, and is inferior to the teachings of human and vehicles. How can we call them students of buddha dharma? In present-day Song China, there are many practitioners who hold such views. The decline of the ancestral path is truly lamentable. There are also people who say, “Practicing zazen is essential for those who are beginners or those who have started studying recently, but it is not necessarily the activity of buddha ancestors. Activity in daily life is Zen, and sitting is Zen. In speaking and in silence, in motion and stillness, your body should be tranquil. Do not be concerned only with the practice of zazen.” Many of those who call themselves descendants of Linji hold such a view. They say so because they have not received the transmission of the right livelihood of buddha dharma. Who are beginners? Are there any who are not beginners? When do you leave the beginner’s mind? Know that in the definitive study of the buddha dharma, you engage in zazen and endeavor in the way. At the heart of the teaching is a practicing buddha who does not seek to become a buddha. As a practicing buddha does not become a buddha, the fundamental point is realized. The embodiment of buddha is not becoming a buddha. When you break through the snares and cages [of words and concepts], a sitting buddha does not hinder becoming a buddha. Right now, you have the ability to enter the realm of buddha and enter the realms of demons throughout the ages. Going forward and going backward, you personally have the freedom of overflowing ditches, overflowing valleys.

*

Mazu, Daji of Jiangxi, studied with Nanyue, Zen Master Dahui. After intimately receiving Nanyue’s mind seal, Mazu was continuously engaged in zazen. One day Nanyue went up to him and said, “Virtuous one, what’s your intention in doing zazen?” Quietly ponder this question. Was Nanyue asking if Mazu had the intention of going beyond zazen, if he had an intention outside of zazen, or if he had no intention at all? Was Nanyue asking what kind of intention emerges while doing zazen? Investigate this thoroughly. Love a true dragon instead of loving a carved one. However, know that both carved and true dragons have the ability to produce clouds and rain. Do not treasure or belittle what is far away, but be intimate with it. Do not treasure or belittle what is near, but be intimate with it. Do not make light or a big deal of what you see with your eyes. Do not make light or a big deal of what you hear with your ears. Rather, illuminate your eyes and ears. Mazu said, “My intention is to become a buddha.” Clarify these words. What is the meaning of become a buddha? Does become a buddha mean being made buddha by another buddha, or buddha making oneself buddha? Is this the emergence of one or two buddhas? Is the intention to become buddha dropping off, or is dropping off the intention to become buddha? Does this mean that however many ways there are to become buddha, to be immersed in this intention to become a buddha is the intention to become buddha? Know that Mazu meant that zazen is inevitably the intention to become buddha, and that zazen is inevitably becoming buddha with intention. Intention is prior to becoming a buddha and after becoming a buddha. Intention is the very moment of becoming buddha. I ask you: How much of becoming buddha is being immersed in intention? This immersion is immersed in immersion. Immersion is always a direct expression of totally becoming buddha, every bit of completely intending to become buddha. Do not avoid even a bit of intention. If you avoid it, you lose your body and miss your life. When you lose your body and miss your life, this too is immersion in intention. Nanyue picked up a tile and started to polish it on a rock. Mazu said, “What are you doing?” Indeed, who does not see this as polishing a tile? Who can see this as polishing a tile? So Mazu asked, What are you doing? What are you doing? is no other than polishing a tile. Whether in this world or in another world, polishing a tile has never ceased. Do not regard your view as the only view. In any activity, there is always this question. Those who see buddha without knowing and understanding buddha see water without understanding water, and see mountains without knowing mountains. To hastily conclude that what’s happening in front of you is a dead end is not a study of buddha. Nanyue said, “I am polishing this tile to make a mirror.” Clarify these words. Polishing a tile to make a mirror has a deep meaning; it is not a false statement, but actualizes the fundamental point. Although a tile is a tile and a mirror is a mirror, there are many ways to investigate the meaning of polishing. An ancient bright mirror, a bright mirror, comes from polishing a tile. Without knowing that all mirrors come from polishing tiles, you will not see or hear the words, mouth, or breath of buddha ancestors. Mazu said, “How can you make a mirror by polishing a tile?” Indeed, by polishing a tile and doing nothing else, an iron-willed practitioner does not make a mirror. Even if making a mirror is not polishing a tile, a mirror is immediately there. Nanyue said, “How can you become a buddha by doing zazen?” Be clear that zazen is not working toward becoming a buddha. The teaching that becoming a buddha has nothing to do with zazen is evident. Mazu said, “Then, how so?” These words may seem to be asking one thing but in fact are asking another. It is like close friends meeting; each is intimate with the other. How so? addresses both zazen and becoming a buddha at the same time. Nanyue said, “When driving a cart, if it stops moving, do you whip the cart or the ox?” In regard to driving a cart, what is moving and what is stopping? Does it mean that water flowing is the cart moving and water not flowing is the cart moving? You can also say that flowing is water not moving. There is a time when water’s moving is not flowing. Thus, when you investigate the cart not moving, there is stopping and not stopping; it depends on time. The word stopping does not merely mean not moving. In regards to Nanyue’s words Do you whip the cart or the ox, is it that you sometimes hit the cart and sometimes hit the ox? Is hitting the cart the same or not the same as hitting the ox? In the secular world, there is no custom of hitting the cart. Although there is no custom of common people hitting the cart, in the buddha way there is the practice of hitting the cart; this is the eye of study. Even if you realize the practice of hitting the cart, it is not the same as hitting the ox. Study this thoroughly. Although hitting the ox is commonly practiced, you should investigate hitting the ox in the buddha way. Is it hitting a living buffalo, an iron ox, or a clay ox? Is it hitting with a whip, with the entire world, or with the whole mind? Is it hitting the marrow, hitting with the fist? How about fist hitting fist, and ox hitting ox?

Mazu was silent. Do not ignore this silence. This is hurling a tile to attract a jewel, turning the head and turning the face. This silence cannot be taken away. Nanyue then instructed: “If you practice sitting Zen, you practice sitting buddha.”

Investigate this statement and understand the pivotal point of the ancestral school. Those who miss the essential meaning of the practice of sitting Zen may say that it is the practice of sitting buddha. But how can those who are not authentic descendants be sure that the practice of sitting Zen is the practice of sitting buddha? Know that the zazen of beginner’s mind is the beginning of zazen. The beginning of zazen is the beginning of sitting buddha. Nanyue continued: “If you practice sitting Zen, [you will know that] Zen is not about sitting or lying down.” What Nanyue meant is that zazen is zazen, and it is not limited to sitting or lying down. This teaching has been transmitted person to person; thus boundless sitting and lying down are the self [beyond self]. When you reflect on your life activities, are they intimate with zazen, or remote from it? Is there enlightenment in zazen or is there delusion? Is there one whose penetrates zazen? Nanyue said further, “In the practice of sitting buddha, the buddha has no fixed form.”

Nanyue spoke the words in this way. The reason why sitting buddha is neither singular nor plural is that the sitting buddha is adorned with no fixed form. To speak of no fixed form is to speak of buddha’s form. As buddha has no fixed form, there is no escape from sitting buddha. Adorned with buddha’s no fixed form, the practice of zazen is itself sitting buddha. In the dharma of no abiding, who can discriminate buddha from not buddha? Falling away before discrimination, sitting buddha is sitting buddha. Nanyue said, “If you sit buddha, you kill [go beyond] buddha.” When you study sitting buddha further in this way, it has an aspect of kill buddha. At the very moment of sitting buddha there is killing buddha. If you want to find the extraordinary luminosity of killing buddha, always sit buddha. Kill may be an ordinary word that people commonly use, but its meaning here is totally different. Study the deep meaning behind the statement that sitting buddha is killing buddha. Investigate the fact that the buddha is itself killing buddha. Study killing and not killing a true person. Nanyue said, “If you are identified with the sitting form, you have not reached the heart of the matter.”

Identified with the sitting form, spoken of here, is to let go of and to touch the sitting form. The reason is that when one is sitting buddha, it is impossible not to be identified with the sitting form. However clear the sitting form is, the heart of the matter cannot be reached, because it is impossible not to be one with the sitting form. To penetrate this is called “letting go of body and mind.” Those who have not practiced sitting do not reach the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is sitting time, sitting person, sitting buddha, and the practice of sitting buddha. The sitting of mere sitting and mere lying down is not sitting buddha. Although usual sitting looks like sitting buddha or buddha sitting, it is not so. A person becomes buddha, becoming a buddha person. However, all people do not become buddhas. Buddhas are not all people, because buddhas are not limited to people. An ordinary person is not necessarily buddha, buddha is not necessarily an ordinary person. Sitting buddha is like this. In this way Nanyue was a profound teacher and Mazu was a thorough student. Mazu realized sitting buddha as becoming buddha, and Nanyue taught becoming buddha as sitting buddha. At Nanyue’s assembly there was this kind of investigation, and at Yaoshan’s assembly there was that dialogue. Know that what buddhas and ancestors have regarded as the pivotal point is sitting buddha. Those who are buddha ancestors employ this pivotal point. Those who aren’t have never dreamed of it.

*

Transmission of buddha dharma in the west and east [India and China] is no other than transmission of sitting buddha. This is the pivotal point. Where buddha dharma is not transmitted, zazen is not transmitted. What has been passed on person to person is the essential teaching of zazen alone. Those who have not intimately received this teaching are not buddha ancestors. Without clarifying this single matter, you cannot clarify myriad matters and practices. Without clarifying them, you cannot be regarded as one who has attained the way with clear eye and cannot join buddha ancestors of the past and present. Thus, buddha ancestors unfailingly receive and transmit zazen person to person. To be illuminated by buddha ancestors is to endeavor in the thorough practice of zazen. Those who are ignorant mistakenly think that buddha light is like sunlight, moonlight, or the glowing of a jewel. But sunlight, moonlight, or the glowing of a jewel is merely a physical manifestation in the transmigration through the six paths, and cannot be compared with buddha light. Buddha light is to receive and listen to one phrase of teaching, to maintain and guard one dharma, and to transmit zazen person to person. Without being illuminated by such light, accepting and maintaining zazen is not possible. Since ancient times few have understood zazen as it is. Even the heads of famous monasteries in China nowadays do not know and study the meaning of zazen. There are only a few who clearly understand it. Monasteries have schedules for zazen, the abbots and resident monks keep the practice of zazen as essential, and encourage students to practice zazen. But few of them seem to understand the meaning of what they are doing. Some masters have written texts titled “Essentials of Zazen.“ A few others have written “Rules for Zazen, “ and a few more have written “The Point of Zazen.” Among these texts none of those titled “Essentials of Zazen” are worthwhile. No version of “Rules for Zazen” clarifies the practice. They were written by those who did not know zazen as they had not received the transmission of zazen person to person. “The Point of Zazen” included in the Jingde Record of Transmission of the Lamp and “Essentials of Zazen” included in the Jiatai Record of the Universal Lamp are also like this. What a pity! They visited and abided in monasteries of the ten directions and practiced all their lives, but they did not make a thorough effort even for one sitting. Sitting had not immersed in them and endeavor had not encountered them. It is not that zazen avoided them, but that they were carelessly intoxicated. They did not aspire to a genuine effort. Their texts merely aim to return to the source and origin, trying to cease thinking and to be still. That does not even come up to taking the steps of visualization, purification, nurturing, and attainment, or the view of the ’ last ten stages approaching buddha’s enlightenment. How could they have received and transmitted the buddha ancestors’ zazen? The Song Dynasty compilers of Zen texts included these writings by mistake. Those who study now should not pay attention to such writings.

*

“The Point of Zazen, “ written by Zhengjue, Zen Master Hongzhi of the Tiantong Jingde Monastery, Mt. Taibo, Qingyuan Prefecture, China, alone is a work of a buddha ancestor. It is a true point of zazen, with penetrating words. It is the only light that illuminates the inside and outside of the world of phenomena; it is buddha ancestor among buddha ancestors of past and present. Earlier buddhas and later buddhas have been led to zazen by this teaching. Present buddhas and past buddhas are actualized by this “The Point of Zazen.” The text is as follows:

The hub of buddhas’ activity, the turning of the ancestors’ hub, is known free of forms, illuminated beyond conditions.

As it is known free of forms the knowledge is subtle. As it is illuminated beyond conditions the illumination is wondrous.

When the knowledge is subtle there is no thought of discrimination. When the illumination is wondrous there is not the slightest hint.

Where there is no thought of discrimination the knowledge is extraordinary with no comparison. Where there is not the slightest hint the illumination has nothing to grasp.

The water is clear to the bottom where the fish swims without moving. The sky is vast and boundless where the bird flies away and disappears.

The point presented here is the manifestation of great function, the awesome presence beyond sound and form, bamboo knots and wood grains [standards] before the parents were born. It is joyously not slandering buddha ancestors, not avoiding the death of body and mind. It is as extraordinary as having a head that is three feet tall and a neck that is two inches short.

The hub of buddhas’ activity: Buddhas do not fail to make buddhas the hub. This hub is manifested. That is zazen. The turning of the ancestors’ hub: One’s late master spoke beyond words. This understanding is the basis of ancestors, of transmitting dharma, and of transmitting the robe. Turning heads and exchanging faces is the hub of buddhas’ activity. Turning faces and exchanging heads is the turning of the ancestors’ hub. Is known free of forms: This knowing is not, of course, conscious knowing. Conscious knowing is small. This knowing is not comprehension. Comprehension is created. Thus, this knowing is free of forms. Being free of forms is this knowing. Don’t regard it as all-inclusive knowledge. Don’t limit it to self-knowledge. Being free of forms is “When brightness [duality] comes, meet it with brightness. When darkness [nonduality] comes, meet it with darkness, “ “Sit through the skin you were born with.” Illuminated beyond conditions: This illumination is not illuminating everything or illuminating with brilliance. Being beyond condition is this illumination. Illumination does not turn to conditions, as conditions are already illumination. Beyond means the entire world is not hidden, a broken world does not appear. It is subtle and wondrous. It is interchangeable and not interchangeable. When the knowledge is subtle there is no thought of discrimination: Thought as knowledge does not depend on other power???. Knowledge is a shape, and a shape is mountains and rivers. The mountains and rivers are subtle. Subtle is wondrous. When you utilize it, it is lively. When you create a dragon, it is not limited inside or outside of the dragon gate. To utilize a bit of this knowledge is to know by bringing forth mountains and rivers of the entire world with all their force. If you don’t have knowledge by being intimate with mountains and rivers, there is not a shred or scrap of knowledge. Do not grieve that discernment and discrimination come slowly. Buddhas who have already discerned are already being actualized. There is no thought of discrimination means there is already merging. There is already merging is actualization. Thus, there is no thought of discrimination is not meeting even one person. When the illumination is wondrous there is not the slightest hint: The slightest is the entire world. The illumination is naturally wondrous and luminous. Thus, it looks as if it hadn’t arrived. Do not doubt your eyes. Do not believe your ears. To directly clarify the source beyond words and not to grasp theories through words is illumination. This being so, illumination is not comparing, not grasping. To maintain illumination is extraordinary and to accept it as complete is no other than doubling it thoroughly. The water is clear to the bottom where the fish swims without moving. Water hanging in the sky does not get to the bottom. Furthermore, water that fills a vessel is not as clear as the water mentioned here. Water that is boundless is described as clear to the bottom. When the fish swims in this water, it is not motionless. It goes for myriad miles. There is no way to measure it and there is no shore to limit it. There is no sky for the fish to fly in and no bottom to get to, and there is no shore where someone sees the fish. In fact, there is no one who sees the fish. If you speak of recognizing the fish, there is merely water clear to the bottom. The activity of zazen is just like the fish swimming. Who can measure how many thousands and myriads of miles there is in zazen? Its journey is the entire body going on the path where no bird flies. The sky is vast and boundless where the bird flies away and disappears: The vast sky does not hang above. What hangs above is not called the vast sky. Furthermore, what encompasses all space is not called vast sky. What is neither revealed nor hidden, neither inside nor outside is called vast sky. If the bird flies in this sky, it just flies in the sky. The activity of flying in the sky is immeasurable. Flying in the sky is the entire world; it is the entire world flying in the sky. Although we don’t know how far the flying goes, we say it beyond saying—we say flies away. It is “Go away with no string on your straw sandals.” When the sky flies away, the bird flies away. When the bird flies away, the sky flies away. When you speak about the investigation of flying, it is right here. This is the point of steadfast sitting. Even if you go myriad miles, it is right here. This is “The Point of Zazen” by Zhengjue. Among the old masters throughout time, no one has written “The Point of Zazen” like this. If the stinky skin bags here and there would try to say something like this, they might not be able to do so in one or more life times. There is no text like Zhengjue’s. Rujing, my late master, would refer to him on his teaching seat as Old Buddha Hongzhi and would not refer to other teachers as Old Buddha. One who has the eye to see a true person recognizes the voice of buddha ancestors. Thus, we know that there is a buddha ancestor in the of Dongshan.

*

More than eighty years have passed since the time of Zhengjue. After his text, I have written my version of “The Point of Zazen.” It is the eighteenth day, the third month, the third year of the Ninji Era [1242]. It has been eighty-five years since Zhengjue passed away on the eighth day, the tenth month, the twenty-seventh year of the Shaoxing Era [1157]. This is my text:

The Point of Zazen

The hub of buddhas’ activity, the turning of the ancestors’ hub, moves along with beyond thinking and is completed in the realm of beyond merging.

As it moves along with beyond thinking its appearing is immediate. As it is completed in the realm of beyond merging completeness itself is realization.

When its appearing is intimate you have no illusion. When completeness reveals itself it is neither real nor apparent.

When you have immediacy without illusion immediacy is “dropping away” with no obstacles. Realization, beyond real or apparent, is effort without expectation.

Clear water all the way to the earth; a fish swims like a fish. Vast sky transparent throughout; a bird flies like a bird.

Although Zhengjue’s text is not incomplete, zazen may be spoken of in this way. All descendants of buddha ancestors should practice zazen as the single great matter. It is the authentic seal transmitted from person to person.

Written at the Kosho Horin Monastery on the eighteenth day, the third month, the third year of the Ninji Era [1242]. Presented to the assembly at the Yoshimine Temple, Yoshida County, Echizen Province, in the eleventh month of the fourth year of the Ninji Era

A General Recommended Way of Sitting Meditation By Dogen Zenji

The Way is fundamentally complete and perfect, all-pervasive, how could it depend upon cultivation and realization?

The vehicle of the source is free; why expend effort? The whole being is utterly beyond defiling dust; who would believe in a method of wiping it clean? The great whole is not apart from here; why go someplace to practice? Nevertheless, the slightest discrepancy is as the distance between sky and earth: as soon as aversion and attraction arise, you lose your mind in confusion. Even though you may boast of comprehension and wallow in understanding, having gotten a glimpse of insight, and though you find the Way and understand the mind, though you may roam freely within the bounds of initial entry, you are still somewhat lacking in a living road of emancipation.

Even , who had innate knowledge, at upright for six years; this is a noteworthy example. When referring to the transmission of the mind seal at Shaolin, the fame of nine years facing a wall is still mentioned. Since the ancients did so, why should people today not do so? Therefore you should stop the intellectual activity of pursuing words and chasing sayings, and should learn the stepping back of turning the light around and looking back. Body and mind will naturally be shed, and the original countenance will become manifest. If you want to attain something, you should set right about working on it. For intensive Zen meditation, a quirt room is appropriate. Food and drink are to be moderate. Letting go of all mental objects, taking a respite from all concerns, not thinking of good or evil, not being concerned with right or wrong, halt the operations of mind, intellect, and consciousness, stop assessment by thought, imagination, and view. Do not aim to become a Buddha; and how could it be limited to sitting or reclining? Spread a thick sitting mat where you usually sit, and use a cushion on top of this. You may sit in the full-lotus posture, or in the half-lotus posture. For the full-lotus posture, first place the right foot on the left thigh, then the left foot on the right thigh. For the half- lotus posture, just place the left foot on the right thigh. Wear loose clothing, and keep it orderly. Next place the right hand on the left leg, and the left hand on the right hand, with palms facing upward. The two thumbs face each other and hold each other up. Now sit upright, with your body straight. Do not lean to the left or tilt to the right, bend forward or lean backward. Align the ears with the shoulders, and the nose with the navel. The tongue should rest on the upper palate, the teeth and lips should be closed. The eyes should always be open. The breathing passes subtly through the nose. Once the physical form is in order, exhale fully through the mouth once, sway left and right, then settle into sitting perfectly still. Think of what does not think. How do you think of what does not think? It is not thinking. This is the essential art of sitting Zen meditation. What I call sitting Zen meditation is not practice of dhyana. It is just a method of comfort, a practical way of experiencing thoroughgoing investigation of enlightenment: objective reality becomes manifest, beyond any trap. If you can get the meaning of this, you will be like dragons taking to the water, like tigers in the mountains. You will know that the truth has spontaneously become evident, while oblivion and distraction will already have been overcome. When you are going to rise from sitting, move your body gradually, getting up gently. Do not be hasty or careless.

We have seen stories of transcending the ordinary and going beyond the holy, shedding the mortal coil while sitting or passing away while standing upright: all of these depend on the power in this.

-----

And how about the transformations of state upon the lifting of a finger, a pole, a needle, a hammer? How about the realizations of accord on the raising of a whisk, a fist, a cane, a shout? They have never been susceptible to understanding but thought and conceptualizations; how could they be known by cultivated realization of supernatural powers? It could be called dignified behavior beyond sound and form; is it not a guiding example prior to knowledge and views? Being such, it is not an issue whether one has more or less intelligence, making no distinction between the quick and the slow. Focused, unified concentration is what constitutes work on the Way. The practice and realizations are spontaneously undefiled; the process of heading for the aim, furthermore, is being normal. Whatever they are, one's own world and the realms of others; West and East, they equally hold the seal of Buddha, based as one on the way of the source. Just work on sitting, remaining in an immobile state. Even though it seems there are myriad differences and a thousand distinctions, just attend to intensive meditation to master the Way. Why abandon a seat in your own house to idly roam in the dusty realms of alien countries? Take a single misstep, and you blunder past what's right in front of you. Having gotten the key to the human body, do not pass time uselessly: preserve and uphold the essential potential of the Buddha Way. Who has the folly to look forward to what lasts but a moment? Add to this consideration the fact that the physical body is like a dewdrop on the grass, a lifetime is like a lightning flash: all of a sudden they are void, in an instant they are gone. May those high-minded people who participate in this study and have long learned to feel an elephant by hand not be suspicious of a real dragon. Proceed energetically on the straightforward path of direct pointing, and honor people who have transcended learning and gone beyond effort. Join in the enlightenment of the Buddhas, inherit the state of mind of the Zen founders. Having long been thus, we should be thus. The treasury opens of itself, to be used at will. Bendowa By Dogen

The various Buddhas and Tathagatas have a most enlightened way of realizing superior wisdom and transmitting the supreme law. When transmitted from Buddha to Buddha, its mark is self-joyous meditation. To enter this meditation naturally, right sitting is the true gate. Though each man has Buddha-nature in abundance, he cannot make it appear without practice or live it without enlightenment. If you let it go, it fills your hand; it transcends the one and many. If you talk about it, it fills your mouth; it is beyond measurement by height and width. All Buddhas eternally have their abode here without becoming attached to one-sided recognition. All beings are working here without attachment to sides in each recognition. The devices and training that I teach now manifest all things in original enlightenment and express unity in action. And when you thoroughly understand, why cling to such trifles as these?

On awakening of the desire to seek the way, I visited Buddhist masters in all parts of the country. Finally I met Zenko (Myozen, disciple of Eisai) at Kennin temple. The nine years that If served as his follower passed quickly. From him I heard about the Rinzai style. Zenko, as the leading disciple of Eisai, truly transmitted the highest Buddhism. Other disciples could not compare with him. I also went to China, visited Zen masters of both Cheh-chiang (Chekiang, formerly divided into east and west), and heard about the styles of the five schools. Finally I studied with Zen master Ju-sting (Nyojo) on Ta-p'ein (Taihaku) peak. In this was I completed the valuable training for my life. After that at the beginning of the Shotei period (1227), I returned to Japan. Because I had the idea of spreading the Law and saving all beings, I was like a man carrying a heavy burden. Then I thought of abandoning this idea of spreading the Law and wait for a more propitious time. I wandered here and there for some time sincerely trying to teach the style of the former Zen master. There are true trainees who deliberately shun fame and profit and concentrate on the search for the way. But unfortunately they are misled by false masters, so real understanding is veiled and the trainees uselessly become drunk with self- madness and drown for long years in the world of delusion. How can the right seed of wisdom sprout and the chance for enlightenment be grasped? I am now wandering here and there like a cloud or water grass - what mountain or river shall I visit? Because I sympathize with such seekers, I went to China, saw the form and style of the monasteries, and received the essence of the Zen teaching. Gathering and recording all this, I am leaving it for the trainees so that they may be helped toward knowing the essence of Buddhism. Isn't this the core of Zen? Buddha Sakyamuni transmitted the right law to Mahakasyapa on Grdhrakuta Mountain, and a long line of patriarchs handed it down to . And Bodhidharma went to China and transmitted the right law to Hui-k'o (Eka).

This started the transmission of Zen Buddhism to the East. Transmitted thus in its essential purity, it came down by a natural route to the Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng. At this time true Buddhism was transmitted to China, and it expressed a meaning free from trivialities. The Sixth Patriarch had two outstanding disciples- Nan-yueh Huai-jang and Ch'ing-yuan Hsing-ssu. Together they transmitted the Buddha seal; they were leaders of man and heaven. These two schools spread, and five styles of Zen appeared. They were the schools of Fa-yen, Wei-yang, Ts'ao-tung, Yun-men, and Lin-chi. In present-day China only the Lin-chi (Rinzai) school is flourishing. Although the five schools differ, they are all based on the single seal of the Buddha Mind. From the later Han period to the present in China, the scriptures of the other teachings were propagated, but it was impossible to determine which was best. With the coming of Bodhidharma from India the root of the conflict was abruptly cut, and pure Buddhism spread. We must also try to do the same in our country. All the Buddhas and patriarchs who transmitted Buddhism considered sitting and practicing self-joyous meditation the true way of enlightenment. The enlightened ones in both the East and West followed this style. This is because the masters and their disciples correctly transmitted this superior method from person to person and received the uncorrupted truth.

1. Q: I have heard of the superior merits of zazen. But an ordinary person will have doubts and say there are many gates in Buddhism. Why do you urge only zazen?

A: Because it is the right gate to Buddhism - this is my answer to him.

2. Q: Why is it the only right gate?

A: The great teacher Sakyamuni handed down this unexcelled method of enlightenment. And the Tathagatas of the past, present, and future were similarly enlightened by zazen. They, too, transmitted it as the right gate. The patriarchs in India and China were also enlightened by zazen. For this reason, I now indicate the right gate for human beings and heaven.

3 Q: Such reasons as correct transmission by the unexcelled method of the Tathagatas and following in the footsteps of the patriarchs are beyond common sense. To ordinary people, reading the and saying the Nembutsu are the natural means to enlightenment. You just sit cross-legged and do nothing. How is this a means to enlightenment?

A: You look on the meditation of the Buddhas and the supreme law as just sitting and doing nothing. You disparage Buddhism. Your delusion is deep; you are like someone in the middle of the ocean crying out for water. Fortunately we are already sitting at ease in the self-joyous meditation of the Buddhas. Isn't this a great boon? What a pity that your true-eye remains shut-that your mind remains drunk. The world of the Buddhas eludes ordinary thinking and consciousness. It cannot be known by disbelief and inferior knowledge. To enter one must have right belief. The disbeliever, even if taught, has trouble grasping it. For example, when the Buddha was preaching at Grdhrakuta, the disbelieves were allowed to go away. To bring out the right belief in your mind you must train and study. If you cannot do this, you should quit for awhile, regretting that you lack the influence of the law from a former beneficial relation. What good are such actions as reading the and saying the Nembutsu. How futile to think that Buddhist merits accrue from merely moving the tongue and raising the voice. If you think this covers Buddhism, you are far from the truth. Your only purpose in reading the sutras should be to learn thoroughly that the Buddha taught the rules of gradual and sudden training and that by practicing his teachings you can obtain enlightenment. You should not read the sutras merely to pretend to wisdom through vain intellections. To strive for the goal of Buddhism by reading many sutras is like pointing the hill to the north and heading south. It is like putting a square peg in a round hole. While you look at words and phrases, the path of your training remains dark. This is as worthless as a doctor who forgets his prescription. Constant repetition of the Nembutsu is also worthless-like a frog in a spring field croaking night and day. Those deluded by fame and fortune, find it especially difficult to abandon the nembutsu. Bound by deep roots to a profit-seeking mind, they existed in ages past, and they exist today. They are to be pitied. Understand only this: if enlightened Zen masters and their earnest disciples correctly transmit the supreme law of the seven Buddhas, its essence emerges, and it can be experienced. Those who merely study the letters of the sutras cannot know this. So put a stop to this doubt and delusion. Follow the teachings of a real master and, by zazen; attain to the self-joyous of the Buddhas.

4. Q: The school and Kegon teachings have both came across to this country; they represent the cream of Buddhism. In the Shingon school-transmitted directly from Tathagata to Vajrasattva - there is no stain between master and disciple. This school maintains that "this mind is the Buddha", and that "this mind becomes the Buddha"; it does not advocate long step-by-step training. It teaches the simultaneous enlightenment of the five Buddhas. It is unexcelled in Buddhism. In view of all this what superiority does zazen have that you recommend it alone and exclude the other teachings?

A: You must understand that in Buddhism the stress falls on the truth or falsity of the training-not on the excellence or mediocrity of the teaching or the depth or shallowness of the principle. In times past, men were drawn to Buddhism by grass, flowers, mountains, and water. Some received the Buddha seal by grasping dirt, stones, sand, and pebbles. The dimensionless letters overflow all forms, and we can hear the sermon now in a speck of dust. "This mind is the Buddha" - these words are like a moon reflected in water; and the meaning of the words: "sitting cross-legged is itself Buddhism"? Like a figure in the mirror. Do not be victimized by clever manipulation of words. When I recommend the training of immediate enlightenment, I want to make you a true human being by indicating the superior path transmitted by the Buddhas and patriarchs. To transmit the Buddha law you should always make the enlightened person your Zen master. Don't follow a scholar who counts the letters of the scripture. This would be like the blind leading the blind. In the teachings directly transmitted from the Buddhas and patriarchs, the Buddha law is sustained by respect for the enlightened person. When the Gods of darkness and light reject the Zen masters and when the enlightened ask the path, they provide the means of opening the Buddha Mind. In the other teachings we could not endure it. The followers of Buddhism only have to study the Buddha law. You must understand that we do not lack the highest wisdom. Though we enjoy it eternally, we do not always harmonize with it. This is because we meet setbacks on the Great Way through clinging to individual opinion and chasing after material things. Through individual opinions various phantoms arise. For example, there are countless views on the 12 chains of transmigration, the 25 worlds, the three vehicles, the five vehicles, the Buddha, and the non-Buddha. Training in the true path does not require learning these opinions. So when we sit cross-legged, depending on the Buddha sign and abandoning all things, we can enjoy great wisdom. We enter at once the superior field beyond delusion and enlightenment - a field without distinction between sage and commoner. How can one who clings to verbal tools rise up to this?

5. Q: Samadhi dwells in the three training, and dhyanaparamita (means of meditation) in the six means of enlightenment. All Bodhisattvas study them from the beginning. They train without discriminating cleverness and stupidity. Even this zazen may be a part of them. Why do you say that the true law is gathered in zazen?

A: This question comes from giving the name "Zen sect" to the treasury of the essence of the true law, and to the unexcelled doctrine-the most important teachings of the Buddha. You must understand that the name "Zen sect" emerged from China and the East; it was not heard in India. When Bodhidharma stayed at Shao-Lin ssu in Sung-shan, gazing at the wall for nine years, the priests and laymen did not understand the true law of the Buddha; they called him a Brahmana who emphasized sitting cross-legged. Afterward every patriarch devoted himself to sitting cross-legged. Unenlightened laymen who saw them carelessly referred to them as the zazen sect without understanding the truth. Today the "Za" has been dropped, and the followers of this practice are known as members of the Zen sect. This is clear in the manuscripts of the patriarchs. You must not equate zazen with the meditation in the six means and the three training. The spirit of transmission in Buddhism is clear in the career of the Buddha. To Mahakasyapa alone on Grdhrakuta Mountain the Buddha transmitted the eye and treasury of the true law, the superior mind of enlightenment and supreme doctrine, and some gods in heaven saw it. Don't doubt this. The gods of heaven protect Buddhism eternally. This is still a living fact. You must understand that zazen is the full way of Buddhism. It is incomparable.

6. Q: Why does Buddhism advocate meditation and enlightenment through cross-legged sitting alone (of the four actions)?

A: I do not analyze the way of training and enlightenment followed by the various Buddhas. If you ask why, I say simply that it is the way used in Buddhism. You should not seek no further. But the patriarchs praised cross-legged sitting, calling it the comfortable way. I know this sitting is the most comfortable of the four actions. It is not only the training of one Buddha or two Buddhas but of all Buddhas and patriarchs.

7. Q: Those who do not know Buddhism have to attain enlightenment by zazen and training. What use is zazen to those who have clearly obtained enlightenment?

A: Though I do not talk about last night's dream and cannot give a paddle to a woodcutter, I have something to teach you. The view that training and enlightenment are not one is heretical. In Buddhism these two are the same. Because this is training enfolding enlightenment, the training even at the outset is all of original enlightenment. So the Zen master, when giving advice to his disciples, tells them not to seek enlightenment without training because training itself points directly to original enlightenment. Because it is already enlightenment of training, there is no end to enlightenment. Because it is training of enlightenment, there is no beginning to training. Sakyamuni Tathagata and Mahakasyapa, therefore, were both used by training based on enlightenment. Training, based on enlightenment similarly moved both Bodhidharma and Hui-neng. This is typical of all traces of transmission in Buddhism. Already there is training that is inseparable from enlightenment. Because training even at the outset transmits a part of superior training, we fortunately gain a part of original enlightenment in this natural way. You must understand that the Buddhas and patriarchs emphasized the need for intensive training so as not to stain the enlightenment that is self-identical with training. If you throw away superior training, original enlightenment fills your hand. If you abandon original enlightenment, superior training permeates your body. In China I saw Zen monasteries in many districts, each with a meditation hall where 500 to 1,200 monks lived and practiced zazen day and night. When I asked the Zen masters who have been entrusted with the Buddha seal, "What is the essence of Buddhism?" they answered: "Training and enlightenment are not two but one." So they urged disciples to follow the footsteps of the Zen masters in accordance with the teachings of the Buddhas and patriarchs. They recommended zazen not only to their disciples, but to all those who seek the true way, to those who yearn for true Buddhism, regardless of whether one is a beginner or an advanced student, a commoner or a sage. As a patriarch (Nangaku) has said: "It is not true that there is no training and enlightenment, but do not stain them by clinging to them." Another patriarch has said: "He who sees the way trains the way." You must, therefore, train within enlightenment.

8. Q: Why did Japanese patriarchs of the past, who went to China and returned to propagate Buddhism, transmit other teachings besides this Zen?

A: The patriarchs of the past did not transmit this Zen because the time was not ripe.

9. Q: Did the patriarchs of the past understand this Zen?

A: If they had understood, they would have propagated it.

10. Q: Someone has said, "Don't throw away delusion (birth and death). There is an easy shortcut to freedom from birth and death. This is because the spirit is eternal." The meaning here is that even if this body is born, it will eventually come to nothing, but this spirit does not perish. If this Spirit that is not subject to rising and ceasing resides in my body, this is the original spirit. Because of this, the body takes temporal form and remains unfixed, for it dies here and arises there. This spirit is eternal and does not change in past, present, and future. To know this is to free oneself from birth and death. For those who know this, the birth and death they have known up to now disappear, and they enter into an ocean of the spirit. When you embrace this ocean, superior virtue will be complete like the Buddhas. Even if you know this, because this body is the result of former delusive actions, you differ from the sages. Those who do not know this transmigrate eternally. So know only the eternity of the spirit. If you sit in vain and waste your whole life, what can you possibly hope for? Does this view conform to the way of the Buddhas and patriarchs?

A: Your view is not Buddhism. It is the Srenika heresy. This heretical view says: "In our body there is a spiritual knowledge. Through the knowledge we recognize like and dislike, right and wrong, pain and titillation, and suffering and pleasure. This spiritual knowledge, when the body deteriorates, is released here and is born anew elsewhere. Therefore, though it seems to die here, it is born there. It never dies; it continues eternally." This is the heretical view. If you absorb this and think it is Buddhism, it is more foolish than holding roof tiles and pebbles and thinking they are the golden treasures. This foolish delusion is shameful. It is beyond serious consideration. National master Hui-Chung of the Tang dynasty issued a sharp warning against this view. Those who hold this delusive view think that the mind is eternal and that appearance is transitory and equate this with the superior training of the Buddhas; they create the cause of transmigration and think that they have broken free from transmigration. Isn't this false? In deed, it is pathetic. This is nothing but delusive heresy. Don't listen to it. Although I hesitate to say it, I will correct your delusion with sympathy. In Buddhism you have to know this: the body and mind are one; essence and form are one. Make no mistake- this is known also in India and China. In a teaching that talks about eternity, all things become eternal. Don't separate body and mind. In a teaching that talks about cessation, all things are ceasing. Don't separate essence and form. Why do you say that the body ceases while the mind is eternal? Isn't this against the right law? You must realize that life-death itself is . We cannot talk about nirvana without life-death. You think erroneously that this is the Buddha wisdom free from life and death. Your mind, which understands and perceives, arises and perishes; it is not eternal. Understands this thoroughly: the unity of body and mind is always upheld in Buddhism. In the light of this, why is the mind only released from the body to become free from arising and perishing while the body arises and perishes? If you assert that body and mind are one now and that they are not one at another time, you becloud the Buddha's teachings. To think that birth and death are things to be avoided is a sin against Buddhism. They are truly the tools of Buddhism. In Buddhism, especially in the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, the great teaching of the Tathagata-garba embraces the Dharma-dhatu. It does not divide suchness and appearance, nor discuss arising and perishing. Even enlightenment and nirvana are nothing but the Tathagata-garba. It is self-identical with all things and appearances and contains them. These various teachings are all based on One Mind. There is no mistake about this. This is understanding of the Mind of Buddhism. How can you divide this into body and mind and delusion and nirvana. You are already the son of Buddha. Do not listen to madmen who preach heretical views.

11. Q: Does one who seriously practices zazen have to observe the precepts strictly and purify his body and mind?

A: Observing the precepts and living purely are rules of Zen Buddhism and practices handed down by the Buddhas and patriarchs. Those who have not received the precepts should receive them; those who violate the precepts should repent. They shall then absorb the Buddha's wisdom.

12. Q: Is there any objection to a serious student of zazen practicing the of the Shingon sect and the Samathavipa'syana (calm and insight) of the Tendai sect together?

A: When I was in China and heard the gist of Buddhism from the Zen masters, they said they had never heard of any patriarchs who truly transmitted the Buddha seal, now and in the past, undertaking such simultaneous training. Unless we earnestly concentrate on one thing, we cannot gain one wisdom.

13: Q: Can a layman practice this zazen or is it limited to priests?

A: The patriarchs have said that to understand Buddhism there should be no distinction between man and woman and between rich and poor.

14. Q: The priests are free from myriad relations; for them there is no obstruction to zazen training. How can the busy layman attain enlightenment by earnest training?

A: Through their boundless love the Buddhas and patriarchs have flung the vast gates of for all beings- whether Human beings or Deva. We many examples in past and present: Tan-tsung and Sung-tsung, though very busy with state affairs practiced zazen and understood the great way of the Buddhas and patriarchs. Prime ministers Li and Fang were close advisers to the emperors, and they too practiced zazen and were enlightened in the great way of the Buddhas and patriarchs. It simply depends on the will. It has nothing to do with being either a priest or a lay man. Those who can discern excellence and inferiority will believe Buddhism naturally. Those who think that worldly tasks hinder Buddhism know only that there is no Buddhism in the world; they do not know that there is nothing that can be set apart as worldly tasks in Buddhism. In the great Sung dynasty a Prime Minister named P'ing mastered the way of the patriarchs and wrote a poem about himself: "Away from state affairs I practiced zazen, hardly ever laying on my side in bed and sleeping; although I am the prime minister, my fame as a Zen master spread throughout the world." Official business kept P'ing busy, but because he had the will to train earnestly, he gained enlightenment. Consider yourself through these cases (persons); look at the present through the past. At this moment, in the great Sung dynasty, emperors, ministers, soldiers and commoners, and men and women take interest in the way of the patriarchs. Warriors and intellectuals have the will to train, and many of them will eventually experience enlightenment. All this tells us that worldly tasks do not hinder Buddhism. If true Buddhism spreads in the state, the Buddhas and heavenly beings always protect that state, and the world becomes peaceful. If the world becomes peaceful, Buddhism acquires strength. In the age of the Buddha, even misguided criminals were enlightened through his teachings. Under the patriarchs, even hunters and woodcutters were enlightened. And others will gain enlightenment. All you have to do is to receive instructions from a real teacher.

15. Q: Can one gain enlightenment by this zazen, even if one trains in this degenerate age and evil world?

A: Other teachings argue about the name and form of the doctrines. The true teaching does not differentiate the three periods of Sho, Zo and Matsu. Anybody who trains will inevitably gain enlightenment. In the correctly transmitted right law, you can always enjoy the rare treasure of your own house. Those who train know whether enlightenment has been obtained, just as one who drinks water knows personally whether it is cold or warm.

16. Q: Some people say that to know Buddhism you only have to understand the meaning of "this mind itself is the Buddha"; you do not have to chant the sutras or train the body in Buddhism. Understand only that Buddhism is inherent in your self - this is full enlightenment. There is no need for seeking anything from others. So is there any use going to the trouble of practicing zazen?

A: That is a most grievous error. If what you say is true - even though the sages teach this ("this mind itself is the Buddha") - you cannot understand it. To study Buddhism you have to transcend the viewpoint of self and others. If you become enlightened by knowing that the self itself is the Buddha, Sakyamuni long ago would not have tried so hard to teach the way. This is evident in the high standards of the ancient Zen masters. Long ago there was a monk named Tse-kung Chien-yuan under Zen master Fa-yen. Fa- yen asked him: "Tse-kung, how long have you been in this monastery?" Tse-kung answered: "I have been here three years." Fa-yen: "You are younger than me. Why don't you ever ask me about Buddhism?" Tse-kung: "I will not lie. While studying under Zen master Ch'ing-feng, I understood the serenity of Buddhism." Fa-yen: "By what words did you gain this understanding?" Tse-kung: "I asked Ch'ing-feng, What is the real self of the trainee? He answered, The God of Fire calls for fire." Fa-yen: "That's a fine expression. But you probably did not understand it." Tse-kung: "The God of Fire belongs to fire. Fire needs fire. It is like saying that the self needs the self. This is how I understood it." Fa- yen: "I see clearly that you did not understand. If Buddhism is like that, it would not have continued until now." This disturbed Tse-kung deeply, and he left there. On the way home he thought: "Fa-yen is an excellent Zen master and the leader of 500 disciples. He has pointed out my fault. There must be a valuable point in his words." Tse-kung then returned to Fa-yen's monastery. Repenting and giving his salutation, he asked: "What is the real self of the trainee?" Fa-yen answered: "The God of Fire calls for fire." On hearing this, Tse-kung was fully enlightened about Buddhism. Obviously one does not know Buddhism by merely understanding that this self is the Buddha. If this is Buddhism, Fa-yen could not have guided Tse-kung in the manner described above, nor would he have given the advice he did. On first visiting a Zen master, you should ask for the rules of training. Only practice zazen earnestly and avoid cluttering your mind with superficial knowledge. The unexcelled method of Buddhism will then bear fruit.

17. Q: In India and China-from ancient times to now-some Zen masters were enlightened by the sound of a stone striking bamboo, and others had their minds cleared by seeing the color of plum blossoms. Even the great teacher Sakyamuni was enlightened by seeing the morning star. The venerable Ananda saw the truth in a stick falling. In addition after the sixth patriarch many Zen masters of the five schools were enlightened by a single word. Did all of these persons practice zazen?

A: From ancient times until now all those who have been enlightened by seeing color or hearing sound practiced zazen without zazen and immediately became unexcelled.

18. Q: In India and China men had inner integrity, and because culture was widespread, trainees were able to understand Buddhism when it was taught to them. In our country, from ancient times, many people have lacked superior intellect; it has been difficult to store the right seeds of wisdom. This comes from the barbaric current. It is very regrettable. Again the priests in this country are inferior to laymen in other countries. Everybody in Japan is foolish and narrow-minded. People cling tightly to worldly and hunger for the superficial good. Can such people quickly attain enlightenment about Buddhism even if they practice zazen?

A: It is as you say. The people in this country have neither knowledge nor integrity. Even if they are shown the true law, they change its sweet taste to poison. They tend to seek fame and profit and find it difficult to free themselves from attachments. But to become enlightened about Buddhism, we cannot rely on the worldly knowledge of human beings and heaven. Even during the time of the Buddha, those who enlightened the four results (includes the Arhats) by handball and those who enlightened the great path by the kesa were foolish and crazy. But they found the way to free themselves from delusion by the help of right faith. Again a woman trainee who waited with a prepared meal was enlightened by seeing the silent sitting of a foolish old priest. None of these cases depend on knowledge. They do not rely on scholarship, words, or speech. They all underline help through right faith. In the some 2,000 years since the birth of Buddhism, it spread to various countries. Its appeal was not limited to highly cultured nations or to people who were clever and wealthy. The true law of the Buddha, with its indeterminate power for good, will spread throughout the world when the right chance comes. All who train with right faith will be enlightened equally with no gap between the wise and foolish. Don't imagine that because Japan is not a highly cultured country and because its people lack knowledge, it is not ready for Buddhism. You must realize that all human beings have the seed of wisdom in abundance. Only there is little recognition of this fact. People do not train with right faith because they do not adequately recognize the essence of Buddhism and lack experience in practical application.

These questions and answers seem unwarranted. But I have tried to help those with poor eyesight to see a flower where nothing appeared before. For in this country the gist of zazen training has not been transmitted, and those who want to know about it are made sorrowful. Therefore, gathering what I saw and heard in China and recording the essence of the Zen masters, I would like to guide those who seek training. I would also like to teach the rules of the Zen monasteries and the rituals of the temples, but I have no time. These things cannot be described simply. Though our country is east of the sea and far from India, the Buddhism of the west was transmitted here about the time of the emperors Kinmei and Yomei. This was our good fortune. But because names, forms, things, and relations become tangled, we lose direction in training.

Now I will take my simple robe and bowl and make my abode among the reed-wrapped rocks of blue and white. Here, while I sit and train true Zen Buddhism - Buddhism transcending the Buddha manifests itself, and with this the object of training it fulfilled. This is the teaching of the Buddha and the style left behind by Mahakasyapa. The rules for this zazen depends on Fukanzazengi, which was transcribed during the Karoku period. To spread Buddhism within a country one must get the permission of the king. But in the light of the Buddha's transmission at Grdhrakuta there emerged kings and nobles and ministers and generals, who appeared in various countries, who gratefully received the guidance of the Buddha, and who did not forget the original spirit that preserved the Buddhism of former ages. All places where the teaching has spread are the Buddha's land. So to spread the way of the Buddhas and patriarchs there is no point in selecting the place or awaiting good conditions. Do not think that today is the beginning. I have, therefore, gathered this record and left it for the superior seeker of Buddhism and for serious trainees who wander here and there in search for the way.

Time-Mid-autumn, 1231 Dogen, Transmitter of the Law From: Kazuaki Tanahashi King of Samadhis

To transcend the world directly, to manifest the magnificence of the buddha ancestors’ house—this is sitting in the meditation posture. To leap over the heads of outsiders and demons, and become a true person inside the buddha ancestors’ room—this is sitting in the meditation posture. To sit in the meditation posture is to transcend the deepest and most intimate teaching of buddha ancestors. Thus, buddha ancestors practice this way without needing to do anything else. Know that the world of sitting practice is far different from other worlds. Clarify this for yourself, then activate the aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana of the buddha ancestors. Study the world at the very moment of sitting. Is it vertical or horizontal? At the very moment of sitting, what is sitting? Is it an acrobat’s graceful somersault or the rapid darting of a fish? Is it thinking or not thinking? Is it doing or not doing? Is it sitting within sitting? Is it sitting within body-mind? Is it sitting letting go of sitting within sitting, or letting go of sitting within body-mind? Investigate this in every possible way. Sit in the body’s meditation posture. Sit in the mind’s meditation posture. Sit in the meditation posture of letting go of body-mind.

*

Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha, said, “Practicing Zen is letting go of body and mind. It can only be done by wholehearted sitting; incense , bowing, chanting Buddha’s name, repentance, and sutra reading are not pivotal.”

Rujing is the only one in four or five hundred years who has plucked out the eye of the buddha ancestors, and sat down inside that eye. There are few in China who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Perhaps there are some who have understood that sitting is buddha dharma and buddha dharma is sitting. And perhaps there are some who have personally experienced that sitting is buddha dharma. But there is no one else who has personally experienced that sitting is sitting, and so there is no one else who upholds buddha dharma as buddha dharma. Thus, there is sitting with the mind, which is not the same as sitting with the body. There is sitting with the body, which is not the same as sitting with the mind. There is sitting letting go of body-mind, which is not the same as sitting letting go of body-mind. To experience this is to merge the practice and understanding of the buddha ancestors. Maintain this insight. Investigate this awareness.

*

Shakyamuni Buddha said to the assembly, “When you sit in the meditation posture, you realize samadhi in body and mind, and give rise to an awesome virtue that people respect. Like the sun illuminating and refreshing the world, this sitting removes obscurities from the mind and lightens the body so that exhaustion is set aside. Enlightenment becomes as natural as a dragon curled up at rest. A demon is frightened even by a picture of someone sitting in the meditation posture; how much more so by a living person who realizes the way sitting motionless and at ease.” As the Buddha said, a demon is startled and frightened by even a picture of someone sitting in the meditation posture and even more frightened by a living person sitting that way. So we know that the merit of such sitting is immeasurable. This ordinary everyday sitting is itself boundless joy. Shakyamuni Buddha continued speaking to the assembly, “Therefore, you should sit in the meditation posture.” Then the Tathagata, the World-honored One, taught his disciples how to sit and said to them:

Some outsiders try to practice by standing on tiptoes, others by standing continuously, and still others by adopting the yoga posture of hooking their feet over their shoulders. These people develop unbalanced minds that founder in an ocean of delusion because their postures are unnatural. Why do I teach my disciples to sit up straight in the meditation posture? Because it is easy to regulate the mind when the body is upright. If the body is straight, the mind is not dull. Instead, the mind is forthright, the intention is true, and is present. If the mind scatters or the body leans, gather together your body-mind and resume the upright posture. If you want to manifest samadhi and enter it, you should gather together all distracted thought and scattered mind within this posture. Practice in this way and you will manifest and intimately enter the king of samadhis.

Thus, we clearly know that sitting in the meditation posture is itself the king of samadhis. It is itself entering realization. All other samadhis serve the king of samadhis.

*

Sitting in the meditation posture is a forthright body, a forthright mind, a forthright body-mind, a forthright buddha ancestor, a forthright practice-realization, a forthright top of the head, and a forthright life stream. When you sit in the meditation posture, the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of a human being are immediately vivid in the king of samadhis. The World-honored One always sat in this meditation posture, and all his disciples authentically transmitted it. The World-honored One taught humans and devas how to sit in this meditation posture. It is the mind seal authenticaly transmitted by the Seven Original Buddhas. Shakyamuni Buddha sat in this meditation posture under the bodhi tree for fifty small eons, sixty great eons, and innumerable unclassifiable eons. Perhaps he sat for three weeks, or maybe only for a few hours. In any case, the Buddha’s zazen is the turning of the wondrous wheel of dharma; his lifetime guidance is contained within it . Nothing is lacking. The yellow scrolls and red rolls of the sutras are all here. In this moment of sitting, buddha sees buddha and all beings attain . Soon after Bodhidharma, the First Chinese Ancestor, arrived from India, he sat zazen facing the wall in the meditation posture for nine years at the Shaolin Temple, Shaoshi Peak of Mt. Song. Since then the head and eyeball of his practice have prevailed all over China. Bodhidharma’s life stream is just this sitting in the meditation posture. Before he came from India, people in China had not truly known sitting in the meditation posture. But after he arrived they came to know it. Thus, for one lifetime, for myriad lifetimes, from head to toe, without leaving the monastery and without concern for other activities, wholeheartedly sit in the meditation posture day and night—this is the king of samadhis.

Presented to the assembly of the Yoshimine Temple on the fifteenth day, the second month, the second year of the Kangen Era [1244].